Honey-Balsamic Sweet Potato Mash

Happy Thursday, readers! This week has been crazy. Well, let me rephrase - this week has been crazy in an awesome way. I was a social butterfly this week! Some girlfriends and I ventured out to experience Paint Nite at a local bar (which was fantastic, by the way!), and the following night I met up with some more friends to share delicious margaritas and Mexican food. So many awesome plans on weeknights? Sometimes (most of the time) my life rules. 

Needless to say, I haven't spent a whole lot of time in the kitchen this week. I did, however, find time to whip up this sweet little side dish. This recipe for Honey-Balsamic Sweet Potato Mash is VERY tasty. It's great, because you can pop your potatoes in the oven to cook while you throw the rest of your meal together, and by the time your main dish is complete, the potatoes are ready to be mashed.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs sweet potatoes
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup half & half
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper

How to:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Prick your potatoes with a fork, and bake on a foil-lined baking sheet until very tender (50-60 min).
• Set the potatoes aside to cool.
• When they are cool enough to handle, halve them lengthwise and spoon out the flesh into a large bowl. Discard the skins.
• Mash the potatoes to your desired consistency, and stir in the remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve immediately.

The original recipe uses heavy cream, but I only had half & half in my fridge. The sweet potatoes still tasted very velvety and rich with this substitution. Additionally, the original recipe suggests using wildflower or lavender if you don't have any honey. I'm thinking it's time for me to purchase these ingredients, so I can see how they change up the dish!

Enjoy!

This recipe is from Williams-Sonoma Bride & Groom Cookbook.

Jamaican Jerk Marinade

Countless people told Jake and I that we'd never have another vacation like our honeymoon. Well, after  spending a week at the all-inclusive Wild Orchid Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, I completely agree. We had a fantastic time here. Every day was filled with sunshine, delicious food, and countless adult beverages. Amazing! I honestly don't think Jake and I will ever have a vacation like this again. I mean, I HOPE we have a vacation like this again, but it's going to be tough to top this one. 

Some of the best food on the island!

One of the MANY highlights of our vacation involved sampling some of the authentic eats Jamaica has to offer. Every day, our noses would tell us it was noon - the Jamaican Jerk Chicken cart would park itself just upwind of where we were sunbathing, and we would scurry off the beach to go find it. Sometimes we'd find it twice a day. I legitimately gained 5 pounds on our honeymoon. I'm not even ashamed, it was worth all of that delicious spicy Jerk Chicken (which was always washed down with a high calorie and equally delicious frozen beverage). 

Delicious Jerk Chicken! Accompanied by
delicious alcoholic beverages

Upon arriving back in Maryland, I took it upon myself to duplicate the delicious marinade these Jamaicans have clearly perfected. While my recipe for Jamaican Jerk Marinade is delicious, it's not exactly reminiscent of what Jake and I gorged ourselves on in Jamaica. I anticipate this will be my of my many attempts at perfecting this marinade!

Ingredients:

• 3 scallions, chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4-5 habanero peppers, stemmed and seeded*
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs kosher salt
• 1 Tbs packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbs fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

How to:

• Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
• Marinade pretty much anything - from chicken, to pork, to veggies. We marinated some chicken breasts overnight before grilling them.
• Grill & enjoy!

*Traditionally, Jamaican Jerk seasoning is made with Scotch Bonnet peppers. My local grocery store didn't have any of these, so I used habaneros as a substitute. The first time I made this, I used 4 habaneros and left some seeds in before adding the peppers to the blender. The marinade was ridiculously hot, but ridiculously good. The 2nd time around, I didn't leave any seeds in, and I felt like the marinade could have used a little more heat. I think I'll search for Scotch Bonnets next time I'm in the mood for some Jamaican Jerk!

Jake and I grilled up some chicken that had been marinated overnight. It tasted great! We made some  Jerk Chicken sandwiches and reminisced about our amazing honeymoon. I'd love to hear your take on this marinade!

Enjoy!

The original recipe can be found here.

How to Change Your Name After Marriage

L.A.B. 

These were my initials for 29 years, 1 month, and 7 days. I thought a lot about whether or not to change my name after Jake and I got married. Not because I was heartbroken over the idea of losing my maiden name - I have three brothers and a nephew, our surname will live on - but because in science, a lot of women decide to keep their maiden name so their publications can be easily tracked. Until I moved to Baltimore, the concept of keeping my maiden name was completely foreign. In fact, growing up all the moms I knew had that same name as their children and husbands. Sure, there are a handful of women I can think of (OK, actually I can only think of two women) who have a hyphenated last name, but I met those women in college. So, I naturally assumed that when it came my turn to take the plunge, I'd take my husband's last name. 

Then, I met women scientists in Maryland. The idea of taking another name after marriage seemed blasphemous. And God forbid you were already published as Sally Maidenname - how would anyone be able to associate pre-married you with post-married you who decided to publish as Sally Husbandslastname? Some women apparently circumvent this issue by dropping their given middle name, moving their maiden name to their middle name, and then taking their husband's last name. Yikes, lots to think about. 

I was torn. Growing up in Massachusetts, I always imagined I'd be Leighanne A. Husbandslastname. But now I have people in my new home and profession telling me I should keep my name, or if I HAVE to change it, change it to Leighanne Maidenname Husbandslastname. I knew I wanted to take Jake's last name in some way, shape or form. So keeping my entire given name was out. Jake and I talked about it, and I briefly considered moving my maiden name to my middle name and dropping my A. altogether. Then Jake pointed out if I did that, my initials would no longer be L.A.B. Jake's last name begins with B. My new initials would be L.B.B. I work in a lab. I feel like it's way too coincindental that my parents gave me the intials L.A.B. by giving me a middle name that starts with A. My decision was made - I dropped my maiden name altogether, retained my middle name, and took Jake's last name. Same initials, which still describe the place I spend most of my time, but new last name, just as I had always imagined it would be. Perfect. 

OK, now that you have my back story how do you actually go about changing a name after marriage? Regardless of whether you choose to just change your last name, or change your middle AND last name, the process is the same. Here's how you change your name after marriage (at least in the state of Maryland - Baltimore county, to be exact).

1. Obtain a certified copy of your marriage certificate. In order to change anything, you need this document. This is not your marriage license. Yes, after you tied the knot, you made it a point to have your officiant sign your marriage license, proving that you and your husband/wife had, in fact, married. He or she needs to submit this signed document to the proper officials so the state will recognize that you are married. Our officiant returned our marriage license to the Baltimore County Clerk of the Court, and by the time Jake and I returned from our honeymoon, our marriage was on file. I went over to the Clerk of the Court (which is the same place where I obtained our marriage license from), paid $5.50 in cash - they do not accept credit card - and walked out with a notorized copy of our marriage certificate. 
2. Visit your local Social Security Administration Office. I thought this would be painful, but this was actually the easiest part of the whole 'changing of the last name' process. I recommend getting to the SSA bright and early. I visited the SSA on a Tuesday morning, and got there about 5 minutes before they opened. I was in and out of this place within 30 min. It does not cost anything to change your Social Security information. In order to change your name on your Social Security card, you need the following documents with you:
1. Legal document providing proof of name change (your certified marriage certificate - see #1).
2. Current license (this will still have your maiden name on it, that's OK).
3. Proof of US citizenship (passport or birth certificate).
4. This form.
3. Visit the MVA to update your license. You must wait at least 48 hours after updating your Social Security information to get your new license. Apparently you do not need your new card in hand to update your license, as long as it's been 48 hours since you requested the name change on your Social Security card. The SSA will tell you that it can take up to 10 business days to receive your new card in the mail, but mine was there 4 days later. I just waited until I got my new card in the mail before heading to the MVA. We all know how trips to the MVA go, so I wasn't about to make the trip over there and have them tell me I needed my card before I could change my license. But I digress. The MVA snapped a new picture of me to display on my license, and I also got to update my weight so it reflected the 20 lbs I dropped before the wedding (bonus!). They told me that my new license would be valid for 8 years, and it was issued right then and there. This is what I needed:
1. My license (again, this still had my maiden name on it - duh, this is the reason you're going to the MVA).
2. Certified marriage certificate (again, see #1).
3. Your new Social Security card (see #2 - although it's still unclear to me if you actually need this. Just make sure you wait at least 48 hours).
4. $48.00, payable by cash, check, or credit card. 
4. Inform your employer. This was the most painful part of changing my name. It seemed like a million different people had to sign off on my new name, and I still haven't been issued a new work ID badge yet. I imagine this process varies greatly from employer to employer. Ironically, my employer didn't even ask to see proof of my new name, but if they had, I would have been able to show my new Social Security card and/or license. Update: four days after requesting my name change with my employer, I had to demonstrate proof of marriage. I thought it was strange they didn't need any paperwork proving there was a reason I took off 2.5 weeks for wedding/honeymoon-related activities.
5. Update your passport. I actually haven't done this yet, as I don't envision taking a trip outside the US in the near future. However, if you need to do this, here is information on how to change your name on your passport.
6. Update your banking information, credit cards, online accounts, email addresses, etc. I was able to change the name on my bank account by visiting my banking branch with my new license and marriage certificate. My new debit/credit card was issued on the spot. Changing my name on my credit cards took some time, and I found that with most of them, a quick phone call to each company was all it took. The same applied for updating my information with my cell phone company. A few credit card companies require proof of the name change and requested I send a copy of my marriage certificate to them. To update my car insurance so my policy reflects my new name, I simply logged in to my Geico account and did it online. I'm sure this varies from insurance company to insurance company. 

And that's pretty much it! By far, the most annoying aspect of all of this was updating all of my online account usernames. I do all of my banking and what not online, and almost all of my usernames contained some aspect of my maiden name. I figured since I was taking Jake's last name, I should get accustomed to said name and wanted to change the usernames and email addresses associated with each account to reflect my new name. So that took a LONG time. But now it's all done! 

Best of luck to all you newlyweds out there. Hopefully this information will be of use to you!

Pizza Dough

Well, hello readers! It has certainly been a while. I've been VERY busy these past few months. Jake and I finally got married, we honeymooned in Jamaica, and now we are settling into married life. Although it pretty much feels the same as pre-married life. Oh, except Jake now wears a wedding band - that's pretty great!

You could probably guess that the two months leading up to the wedding were very hectic. I'd like to pretend that I still found time to make dinner for Jake and myself, but if I'm being honest? We ate a lot of cereal for dinner. And pasta. And Panera. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Panera, but you can only eat so much of it before you're craving a delicious home-cooked meal. 

I can't believe how many amazing and generous gifts we received from our wedding guests. I used quite of few of said gifts while making this recipe for Pizza Dough, so that was awesome!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups warm water (100 - 110 degrees)
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (or two envelopes)
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp olive oil, plus some for greasing
• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• Cornmeal or flour for dusting

How to:

• Combine water, yeast, vinegar, and 3 Tbsp olive oil in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Mix on low speed until just blended (~30 seconds).
• Add 1 cup of the flour and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. 
• In a separate bowl, mix together remaining flour, sugar, and salt. 
• Add the flour mixture to the wet dough mix in 3 batches, beating on low speed after each addition until thoroughly combined.
• Once all the flour has been added, raise the mixer speed to medium and mix for 2 more minutes. The dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl, will come together in a bowl, and will feel soft to the touch.
• Place the ball of dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it several times to coat the surface lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel, and let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Divide the dough into two equal portions* and roll each piece into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a baking sheet and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
• Use dough immediately, refrigerate up to 4 hours, or freeze.**

*Alternatively, divide the dough into 6 equal portions to make individual pizza crusts.

**If you've chilled the dough, allow it to warm to room temperature prior to rolling it out.

I used a pizza peel (wedding gift!) dusted with cornmeal as a working surface to stretch the dough on (I just used my hands). You can use flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your surface before stretching it out if you don't have any cornmeal on hand. I also cooked the pizzas on a pizza stone (another wedding gift!), and found that it worked great for evenly cooking the crust.

Clearly, I didn't get too crazy with this pizza - just cheese for a topping. The individual pizzas cooked very quickly (only about 6-8 minutes at 450 degrees on the pizza stone). I froze the remaining portions of dough and will certainly be cooking those up soon! This recipe is very easy, and tastes great. It passed the Jake pizza test, so I'd say it's a winner!

This recipe is from Williams-Sonoma Bride & Groom Cookbook (another wedding gift!).